Athena
"Death cannot hold those with purpose Kratos" ''- Athena'' Greek Mythology Athena (pronounced /əˈθiːnə/) or Athene (/əˈθiːniː/; Attic: Ἀθηνᾶ, Athēnā; Latin: Minerva), also referred to as Pallas Athena (Παλλάς Αθηνά; pronounced /ˈpæləs/), is the goddess of civilization, wisdom, strength, strategy, craft, justice and skill in Greek mythology. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavor. She is the virgin patron of Athens. The Athenians built the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens, in her honor (Athena Parthenos). In the God of War series Throughout the series, Athena serves as the main godly ally of Kratos. She watches over him, offering guidance and protection. After Ares tricked Kratos into murdering his family, Athena became Kratos's refuge. In exchange for years of service, she promised to purify him of his past crimes. It was she who often told Kratos of tasks the gods wanted him to perform, frequently speaking with the Ghost of Sparta through statues in her own image. However in the third game, it's revealed she had used Kratos from the very begining to kill her own brethren and acend to a power even greater than that of a God, thus making her the series' main antagonist and Kratos' greatest enemy. ''God of War'' Out of utter hatred and jealousy towards Athena, Ares summoned monsters from the Underworld and attacked the city of Athens to prove his superiority over her to Zeus. Since Zeus had forbidden the gods from battling each other directly, Ares himself led the attack on Athens, thinking that nothing short of a fellow Olympian could hope to stop him. Athena and the other gods sought to empower Kratos to save Athens and put an end to Ares' rampage once and for all. She guides him throughout the game to Pandora's Box. After the death of Ares, she reveals that Kratos is forgiven of his sins, but the gods never agreed to relieve him of his nightmares; no mortal or god could ever forget the terrible things he had done. With all hope lost, Kratos felt abandoned and flung himself from the Suicide Bluffs overlooking the Aegean Sea, believing death was his only escape from the nightmares. It was not as it seemed, as Athena saved Kratos from falling to his death. The gods had not abandoned Kratos at all. Athena gave Kratos the throne of Ares and the title of God of War. She also granted him the Blades of Athena to replace the Blades of Chaos given to him (and taken away) by Ares. ''God of War II'' Enough, Kratos! With every city you destroy, the wrath of Olympus grows, soon I will no longer be able to protect you. - Athena Unfortunately, Kratos was a far more ruthless God of War than Ares ever was. Shunned by his fellow gods, and angry towards them for not ridding him of his nightmares, he turned to the Spartan army. Together, they began conquering all of Greece. Athena warned Kratos that if he did not stop his path of destruction, the wrath of Olympus would grow ever stronger and she would not be able to protect him. Kratos, sneering at Athena, turned his back on her and fled to the island of Rhodes where his Spartan army lay siege. Athena was left with no other choice but to help rid Olympus of Kratos. As a colossal god, Kratos tore apart the city of Rhodes until an eagle flew over him, draining much of his godly power and shrinking him down to mortal size. Kratos believed it was Athena’s act of defiance against Kratos, until it was actually revealed to be the King of the Gods himself – Zeus. During Kratos’ journey through the Island of Creation, he came upon the Garden of the Gods, where a golden statue of Athena warned him not to listen to Gaia or the Titans (this warning would later prove to be a reality during the events of God of War III). She explained to Kratos that there were more important things besides seeking revenge and that Zeus did what he had to in order to protect Olympus. The King of the Gods did in fact fear Kratos. The warnings of Athena did not move Kratos, and he continued his path of vengeance until he faced Zeus once again. Taking the Blade of Olympus, Kratos stabbed Zeus with it repeatedly until Athena intervened. Angered by Athena’s interference, Kratos pushed her aside and struck at the fleeing Zeus. Athena threw herself in front of Zeus before he could be stabbed, and fell by Kratos’ hand. Saddened by what he had done, Kratos asked Athena why she would sacrifice herself. Athena replied that Zeus must live so that Olympus prevailed. She also revealed that Kratos was the bastard child of Zeus, compelled to destroy his father just as Zeus had done to Cronos and Cronos had done to Uranus. Sickened by this very fact and more vengeful than ever, Kratos claimed he had no father, leaving Athena to die in a spectacular burst of green light. The time of Olympus would come to an end. God of War III "I see truth where I did not before..."- ''Athena After falling from Gaia's back during the attack on Mount Olympus, Kratos landed in a hole that lead him into the Underworld. There, Athena appeared to Kratos, now in a ghost-like state, giving him the Blades of Exile and telling him in order for him to defeat Zeus, he had to venture back up the mountain and extinguish The Flame of Olympus, which he would find on the other side of Hera's Garden. Athena also informed Kratos about Pandora's Box when Kratos ran into Hermes. When a skeptical Kratos inquired as to her sudden change in heart, Athena explained her death had brought about a change in her, an ascension to a level beyond that of the Gods, and how she understood more in this form than she did in the past. She stated Zeus' death was necessary if humanity were ever to be freed, and would aid Kratos throughout his quest. After Kratos succeeded in killing Zeus, Athena stated it was time mankind heard her message and demanded that Kratos gave the powers of the Box back to her. Kratos however, sneered at her sentiments, citing the chaos ravaging the world and the fact that Pandora's Box was empty. Confused at first, Athena then realized that when Kratos opened the box to defeat Ares, it unleashed all the evils Zeus captured and infected the gods. Instead of drawing on the evil powers within the box as she had once thought, Kratos had in fact aquired the power of Hope, the power that Athena herself had sealed in the box, should it ever be opened again. During all this time however, Kratos had this power buried underneath all his anger, sorrow and guilt, thus shielding it from everyone, including himself. Athena insisted again upon Kratos returning the power of Hope to her, to have her restore the world, and rule it as new King-God of Olympus. Kratos instead decided to impale himself with the Blade of Olympus, thereby releasing Hope to mankind. A horrified Athena exclaimed mankind would not know what to do with such power, before expressing her disappointment in Kratos. Then, affter having removed the blade from his chest, she vanished, leaving Kratos to his fate. Personality Of all the gods on Mount Olympus in the God of War series, Athena is arguably the least selfish and is in fact, very noble. as is displayed not only by her deep love for her people and her horror of Ares' destroying of athens, but she is also seen as deeply caring for all mankind - as in God of War III she states that she intends to "liberate" mankind with the power of hope. she also is seen as loving her family - paticularly her father Zeus deeply, even sacrificing her own life to save him. and even cares greatly for kratos - elivating him as a god, shielding him from olympus' wrath and guideing him on his quest, remaining his closest ally in all three games, this is possibly due to her knowledge that kratos is her brother. But in ''God of War III, her motives have somewhat changed. For some reason, she now desires the death of Zeus and motivates Kratos's quest for vengeance. She also claims to have a message for humanity. It is unknown what she ultimately had in mind, but it seems that she wished the destruction of the Olympians so she can rebuild the world and rule mankind as the sole all-powerfull god. Though only displaying it after her death, Athena was presumably infected by the Evil Greed/Ambition from Pandora's box. The trait manifested in her desire to rule as the sole Goddess of Olympus after having Kratos destroy the Pantheon as well as her furious response when Kratos gave Hope to mankind instead of giving it to her. Furthermore, according to Erin Torpey, Athena's voice actress for God of War III, she considers Athena as "trying to do some good to the world, but ultimately wants to take it over," further lending to the possibility that she is not as benevolent as she presents herself to be. However it is also possible - that as she states the power of hope is "hers" that she may be unaffected by the evils of the box - suggesting her Evil, Meglomaniacal state is her true nature - possibly making her the most evil of the gods, bar prehaps Ares. but justifies her actions believing "the ends justify the means" and that her horrors were commited for the greater good - a machiavellian point of view shared by the most evil people in history. it should be noted that if this was her plan from the outset of the series this would display that Athena is Incredibly Ruthless, Cunning, Manipulative and Evil. and possibly could be considered delusional or insane due to her warped sense of right and wrong, this again could be her natural personality - or it may have been warped by the Evils of The Box, or by her own death Her manipulation of Kratos, the Gods and possibly even the Titans, in combination with her desire for her to destroy all of Olympus and indeed The World in order for her to gain ultimate power makes her by far - the most dangerous and villainous character of the series - and the greatest enemy of Kratos, The Titans, and The Gods alike. Relationships Athena was very devoted to protecting Olympus and her father, Zeus. She was favored by Zeus among the rest of his children, igniting the jealousy of her brother, Ares. In both God of War and God of War II, it is noted that Athena cares very much for Kratos (possibly because she already knew Kratos is her brother). Kratos was shown to care about her to a degree, since he was saddened by the fact that he killed her when he tried to kill Zeus. In contrast, Zeus showed no emotion over her death, despite favoring Athena -although he had already been corrupted by the evils of Pandora's Box by this point, and his fear of Kratos may have overshadowed any grief for his daughter. After her death, something changed Athena. She became devoted to the destruction of Zeus and overthrowing the Olympian order, becoming Kratos' main ally once more. After Zeus' death, she revealed she intended to drive the world into chaos and rebuild it with the power of Hope. Powers and Abilities As a goddess, Athena was able to appear in many forms and was invincible to certain forms of attack. Like all other gods, she was immortal and very powerful, only able to be killed by the power of the Blade of Olympus. She granted Kratos the Rage of the Gods in God of War to use to destroy his enemies. She bears two short swords on her back, which she used to stop Kratos from killing Zeus with the Blade of Olympus. She also had the power to communicate through various statue depictions of herself, usually doing so to guide Kratos. After her death by Kratos' hand, Athena returned as a mysterious specter made of translucent green light. She retained the ability to communicate with Kratos, although without the need for a physical medium, suggesting some form of telepathy. She also displayed the new ability to empower objects, transforming the ruined Blades of Athena into the Blades of Exile. Additionally, Athena's "ghost" could apparently become tangible and intangible at will, passing through Kratos at one point yet grabbing his weapons as she did so. Despite this, it appears that Athena can still be injured in her new form. When Kratos lifted the Blade of Olympus against her, she assumed that he was going to strike her down again, implying that the Blade, at least, can still harm, if not kill her. Athena also claims that the power of Hope is "hers" if this is the case then athena is incredibly more powerfull than most other gods as the power of hope grants kratos the strength to kill many gods including Ares and Zeus, it is however far more likely that she merely harnessed the already existing power of hope, and feels a sense of ownership due to this. Trivia *In God of War and God of War II, Athena is voiced by Carole Ruggier, who also voiced Athena in the video game ''Age of Mythology''. *In God of War III, she is voiced by Erin Torpey. *In God of War II, one of the Bonus Costumes has the player look like Athena. *She is the only goddess that plays a major role in all three games. *With her death, both the original God and Goddess of War have died. *Although Zeus' favoured daughter, her father showed no remorse on her death, only blaming Kratos she died because of the rage that consumed him. *Upon her death, Greece, and maybe the whole world with it, was plagued with the loss of wisdom, warfare and crafts, as Athena was goddess of all three. Related Pages *Gods *Athens *Athena (Costume) *Athena's Swords Gallery File:Atena_11.png|Athena's statue in Desert of Lost Souls File:Untitled_3atena.png|Athena's statue on Kratos' ship File:Atemna_12.png|Athena grants Kratos passage to Olympus, and a place as the God of War in Ares' stead File:Untitled_8atena.png|Athena in God of War II. File:Atena_777.png|Athena warning Kratos about his decision to destroy Rhodes. File:ATENA_1.png|Athena defending Zeus. File:ATENA_2.png|Kratos stabs Athena. File:ATENA_3.png|Kratos saddened by his accidental stabbing of Athena File:ATENA_4.png|Athena's last words to Kratos. File:ATENA5.png|Talking to Kratos before her death. File:ATENA_7.png|Athena's powers leaving her body. File:ATENA_6.png|Athena's death. File:Chapter2-7.jpg|The Spectre of Athena File:Atena.png|Athena gives Kratos a new pair of blades. File:Athena_1.png|Athena and Kratos after Zeus' death Category:Characters Category:Immortals Category:Deceased characters Category:Gods Category:God of War Category:God of War II Category:God of War III